In this episode Jenny Salt speaks to Kay Yasugi, a talented performer letting her light shine in the international world of puppetry.
Kay was born in Japan to a Japanese dad and a Korean mum. Along with her older brother they came and settled in Sydney when Kay was little.
Kay was brought up in a very multicultural home – girl’s school during the week, Japanese school on Saturdays, and a home life filled with fusion food - but becoming a Christian and doing summer missions in Bathurst changed the direction of Kay’s life.
It all started with a mascot for the mission week – a monkey called “Chee Chee”. This unassuming creature was the beginning of Kay’s life-long love of puppetry, and the development of a talent that's taken her all over the world.
SPECIAL LINKS
Here are some links for you to check Kay and all her characters at work:
Pupperoos: This is Kay's main business, focusing on puppetry for children and education. You can see a photo of Chee Chee the Monkey on the ‘About Us’ page. Otherwise here is a video of Chee Chee in action - Kay made this last Christmas for her church’s online Gingerbread house event (St Barnabas East Roseville) - it’s the nativity told with gingerbread and puppets.
Christmas Nativity Song 2020 Style (Colin Buchanan video): Here is a 2020-inspired stop motion puppet video of the Nativity that Kay created for her church’s online Christmas service last year (complete with toilet rolls, hand sanitizer, cleaning products and pasta!). With Colin Buchanan’s permission, Kay made this video using his song “On That Very First Christmas".
Digital Seagull: This link has info about the ABC iView campaign and other projects Kay has done for adults and corporate clients.
Wiggles video: To celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Korea, the Korean Cultural Centre collaborated with The Wiggles to create 3 fun videos for young children. They asked Kay to adapt some Korean Folktales which were turned into gorgeous picture books. Check out their Youtube channel to see Emma Watkins and Simon Pryce read ‘The Tiger and the Toad’ and ’The Honest Woodcutter’.
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